A Real mommy.....again

So this morning I had a "real mommy" moment. Those moments when you think to yourself, "wow, I guess I'm a real mom now."

This morning I packed my first school lunch. Yes, thanks to year round school, I have sent my oldest child into the world until 3:30. As I was putting mayo on bread, I was reflecting over the many "mommy" moments I've had in the last 6 years. So because this is the only record I keep of our family, I am going to record them here. For those of you adverse to sappy, this might not be the post for you to read.

My first mommy moment came when I had my face peed on by a newborn. I distinctly remember thinking, "wow, this is really my baby". At the time, I'm sure I thought that would be the last and most important time of experiencing that feeling. It was official, I was a mom. However, as the years fly by, I am realizing that not only have I had many of those moments, but I will have many more. So, without further adieu, the mommy moments.

1. Getting peed on
2. The first night I had to stay up all night, worrying about a sick child and wondering when exactly you call the doctor on call.
3. The first time little arms wrapped around my neck out of sadness.
4. When they switched from calling me mama or mommy, for the slightly more demanding, MOM.
5. The first peanut butter sandwich I cut the crusts off. (Which I have never done since, seriously, if they don't want the dang crust, then can tear it off themselves!)
6. The first soccer Saturday, which lawn chairs, snacks, and a parka, because it was snowing.
7. Crying in the car on the way home from dropping my first off at Kindergarten.
8. Going downstairs, at midnight, to warn those kids, AGAIN, that if they didn't turn off those lights and go to bed, there would be serious trouble.
9. Going downstairs at 12:03 and taking the light bulbs out of their lights so they had no choice but to go to sleep.
10. The first time I realized, why in the world would I clean the house everyday? It's just going to get messy again tomorrow. A good clean twice a week is plenty.
11. And today, which, as always, feels like the pinnacle of mom-ness, I made a school lunch. I packed it in a lunch box and sent it into the world with my once very small baby.

I know there will be many more mom moments to come, but each one feels like a milestone that is a crowning victory for making it through baby-hood, or toddler-hood, or whatever stage we have just come out of. They are some small way to measure the days and years of my life right now. Although trivial to some, to me it signifies a life worth living. That a couple of cookies and a juice box can indicate to me that we are moving forward is a wonderful thing. The mommy moments help me focus on the little things in life, and all those little things make up a big thing, happiness.

The house is listed!

We have listed the house. In the first 24 hours we've had 3 groups come through to see it. We were blessed enough to have some surprise help from family and friends. Which really, when friends are this great, shouldn't they just be called family anyways?

Friday afternoon Glenn, Kecia, and Emma showed up with their air mattress (since we've sold the guest room furniture) and ready to help out. About 30 minutes later Chris (Wright) showed up. We were able to get the re-grouting done in the upstairs bathroom, some minor landscaping changes done, the front door painted, the outside front railing painted, and a small ceiling repair done. All in time for the first viewers at 5:30. We then left for an hour and met back at the house for a HUGE dinner. After all that work we were hungry. Well, in the middle of dinner the doorbell rings, it was the 5:30 people, they were late! So we let them do their thing while we ate dinner.

After not much sleep, due to Emma having a rough night and Glenn and Brian figuring out the mysteries of the universe until 4:30 in the morning, Kecia and I were out on the porch when my dad showed up to finish a railing on the deck we had not finished. The guys loved the saw at 7:30am! I loved having the railing done! To celebrate we had stuffed french toast.

We spent the rest of the morning getting ready for today's showings, which all went well. I am profoundly grateful for the people in our lives that are so willing to give of their free time and their talents to help me get done things in one evening that would have taken me a week alone. We are very blessed for these great people in our lives.

Jake's camera

For Jake's birthday we gave him a camera with a photo card. He loves it! He loves to take pictures of anything and everything, including himself. The other night when I was putting the kids to bed, we were getting a little silly with the camera.
Here's Tyler and mom.
And my silly little boys. Notice that little gleam in Jake's eyes? Yeah, that worries us a little...
So this was after I left them to fall alseep. This would be Jake shooting webs like spiderman.
I'm thinking this one happened after Tyler fell asleep, it's definatly a self portrait, and it was the least weird and silly of the last ones on the photo card.

Today is the day!

The photographer is coming today to shoot the house. It should be listed by tomorrow or Wednesday. We are excited to get going on it. I've been working like crazy to pack everything not necessary, to "un-clutter" the house. I can't believe how empty it feels around here.

One thing I've learned about myself since starting this project is that I like clutter. I have always operated under the assumption that eventually my kids would grow up, and then I would have a clutter-free home. Not that things are bad now, just that I make these little piles of paper, pens, whatever around. I figured that I would be different when the kids were grown. I've learned that the lack of piles is driving me insane!!! I think I'm one of those people that actually thrive on this little bit of chaos in my life. Just think of the convenience alone of having a pen and paper at your beck and call. Or knowing just where you can find a bobby pin, or a quarter for the ice cream man. I miss my piles. I miss having a little junk around. I really miss having a house that feels like people live there. I hope it sells quick so I can get out of here and start some piles somewhere else!

Some Big news...

Actually, a lot of big news. Brian is finally to the point that back surgery is unavoidable. So he will be going under the knife in the next few months. We are also putting out house on the market next week.

So many factors have gone into this decision and though it makes us sad, we are really looking forward to the adventure! We will be moving slightly south of here, in the Eagle Mountain area of Utah. For those of you not from here, Eagle mountain in down by Utah lake. It is slightly in the middle of nowhere, but close to the freeway and an equal distance between Salt Lake City and Provo.

Although life has become more hectic with the de-clutterization of the house for the real estate photographer, prepping for listing the house and me getting ready for my trip to Washington, we are excited about the idea of moving. The kids are excited too, once we got past the initial queries of: "Are we still going to have a toy room?" and "Is the cat still going to be our friend?" they were good to go. (And for those of you curious, the answer was yes to both questions)

Oh, also a "little" side note, Sprinkles the hamster has left our home. After being harassed by Abby the cat for the last 2 months, we have found a new home for Sprinkles. She was a good hamster and the kids will miss her. I can't say I'm terribly broken up about it, and in hindsight, will never invite a rodent to live with us again.

So that is our life right now. A little crazy, but hey, that's what makes it fun!

Cranky about the pictures....

Okay, so something I did last week screwed up the pictures on here! I'm not quite sure what I did, but I'll try to get to it today or tomorrow! Sorry for all blank spots!

Frito worthy

This morning, I had the opportunity to reflect on some of the funny little things kids do. For example, this morning, I feasted on a yogurt that had 45 grams of sugar (needless to say, this was not my normal yogurt, it was the kids'), chocolate chips, fritos, and Almonds. No, I'm not pregnant! This is what Jake made for me for a suprise breakfast. I've come to almost dread with love the words "Mommy, I made you breakfast!"

However, that being said, there are so many little things about my day that make fritos for breakfast worth it. Here are a few of those things....

When I wake in the morning, the first thing I usually see is Jake's sleepy little face standing at the side of my bed. He comes in every morning and holds out his arms to climb into bed and snuggle with me. This would be unremarkable if it weren't for the fact that he is 4. I don't know many 4 year old boys that are willing to get a hug from their mom, much less crawl into their mommy's arms like a baby and fall back to sleep for an hour or so.

Tyler has his own little set of sweet things he does to show us love. Since learning to read and write we find ourselves the recipients of many, MANY pieces of paper with the words "I love you mommy from Tyler" written on them. Or "Happy Mother's day", "You're the best mom in the world". This last year, we have gone thru a 200 page package of construction paper for these projects. When we are sick, the first thing we get is a paper from Tyler. These come in nice large sheets or small scraps of paper, whatever is handy, he'll use.

However small these things are, they are worth it. Worth ruining my eating habits for a meal. Worth waking up early and worth spending a fortune on paper. Worth having fritos for breakfast.

More 4th Pictures....

....then we started to think maybe all the older cousins were just suckers for his cute little face since they were all providing his ear coverage! Tanner down the line liked the idea too!
Preston just wanted to go home to bed!

4th of July!

For the fourth of July this year we had a crowded, but amazingly fun get together at our house! We were never so glad for our backyard as we were that day! This is my mom and dad with all their grandchildren, lined up according to age. We LOVE the three amigos on the end, who were all born within the same year and are just a heap of trouble and fun! We had a great day, with just a little sadness, Brian's back was out and was unable to join the fun. He spent the day in bed with his legs up. We were also missing Stephanie, who was in Indiana preparing their new house for their family to move into. We love you Steph!!
The boy end of the family....from left to right, Tyler, Zach, Jake, Tanner, and Preston. In the way of belonging...Tyler and Jake, of course our ours, Zach is Jim and Steph's, and Tanner and Preston are Corey and Sarah's.
The kids in Uncle Jim's new truck. It was actually pitch dark when I took this, so it's a little blurry, the camera did it's best with no tripod.
I just thought this was pretty!
Jake didn't like the noise, so Brad let him sit on his lap and was nice enough to cover his ears for him!